Chico State wins in regional again, on to Sweet…
Chico State wins in regional again, on to Sweet Sixteen
PUBLISHED: March 14, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 28, 2018 at 9:05 a.m.
SEATTLE — Very seldom does a college basketball team get the opportunity for retribution just one week after suffering a humbling defeat. But the Chico State Wildcats, walloped by 30 points at the hands of Humboldt State in last Saturday's California Collegiate Athletic Association conference championship tournament title game, got even when it counted — with the entire season hanging in the balance.
The Wildcats posted their biggest offensive night of the season, outscoring the Lumberjacks 36-14 in the final 10 minutes Saturday to hand Humboldt an 86-76 loss in the NCAA Championship Tournament West Region semifinals at Seattle Pacific University's Royal Brougham Pavilion. The win earned the Wildcats a spot in Monday's West Region final for the fourth time in six years, and the chance to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
With the win — the Wildcats' 15th victory in their last 17 outings — Chico State improved to 23-9 on the season and will take on either Seattle Pacific or the University of Alaska Anchorage in Monday's West Regional championship game. Humboldt State saw its four-game winning streak and its season come to an end; the Lumberjacks finished 20-11 overall.
"Our team has been absolutely resilient all season long," Chico State coach Brian Fogel said. "Night in and night out it's a different player who steps up and gives an effort that the whole team feeds on. I'm excited for the players — they've earned this, and I'm proud of how this team has represented Chico State."
In fact, several Wildcats stepped up in Saturday's 10-point win over Humboldt State. Melissa Richardson, who had missed her last 13 3-point attempts and hadn't sunk a 3 since the Wildcats beat San Francisco State on March 2, was 5 for 6 from behind the arc against the Lumberjacks and scored a team-high 21 points. Christine Vest was extremely aggressive underneath, scoring 15 points. Natasha Smith and Synchro Bull combined for just 10-for-28 shooting, but scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, and made some huge buckets down the stretch; Smith also led the Wildcats with 10 assists and eight rebounds. The Wildcat reserves came up big again, with Taylor Lydon and Courtney Harrison knocking down 3-pointers off the bench, while Annelise Miller contributed 15 quality minutes, scoring two points, hauling in four rebounds and dishing off three assists.
Saturday's game was played at a break-neck pace, with the Wildcats constantly in fast break mode and almost never walking the ball into the frontcourt. As a result, Chico State ultimately wore Humboldt State down in the game's final minutes, and the Wildcats pulled away late with plenty of gas in the tank to spare.
"It's our conditioning that really makes us such a special team," Fogel said. "We challenge teams to run with us, and they can't keep up. Even when we were down by 12 points in the second half, we never took our foot off the throttle, and we got the results we were looking for."
Chico State did a good job early containing CCAA scoring leader Brittney Taylor, but Andrea Bobic, who torched the Wildcats for 25 points in the CCAA championship tournament finale, single-handedly kept the Lumberjacks close, scoring 16 in the first half, but it was the Wildcats who went into the locker room with a 37-36 lead. Richardson connected on all four of her 3-point attempts in the period, and Vest registered six points in the paint. Neither team took command in the first 20 minutes of the contest, with 16 lead changes and no lead larger than six points. Both the Wildcats and Lumberjacks shot 40 percent from the field, but the key halftime stat was that Humboldt State, which had connected on 50 percent of its 3-point attempts over the past four games, was just 4-for-13 from behind the arc.
Humboldt State was the aggressor at the start of the second half, ripping off a 12-4 run to take a 48-41 lead. Bull's 12-foot jumper shaved the deficit to five, but Kristen Huffman scored four unanswered points to put the Lumberjacks up 52-43. The Wildcats used a Lydon 3-pointer and two Harrison free throws to pull to within six, but Bobic, who finished with a game-high 28 points, answered with two 3-pointers and a driving layup to stretch Humboldt's lead to 62-50 with 10:04 to play.
That's when the Wildcats began their game-winning run, reeling off 12 unanswered points in just three minutes to tie the score at 62-all. The Lumberjacks briefly regained the lead at 65-62, but again Chico State had an answer — fast break layups by Smith, Harrison and Vest put the Wildcats in front 68-65. A three-point play by Taylor tied it up again, and a 3-pointer by Lisa Petty with 4:41 left gave Humboldt State a 72-71 lead. But the Lumberjacks were starting to wear down, and while Humboldt went on to miss eight of its last nine shots, Chico State took control. A Vest layup with 3:34 left put the Wildcats up 76-74, and it was a lead they would not relinquish. Bull put in back-to-back layups, Richardson drained her fifth 3-pointer of the night and then made two clutch free throws in the final minute to officially put the game out of reach.
The Wildcats will practice today in preparation for Monday's NCAA Championship West Region title game, slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 101.7 and 1340 AM locally, as well as on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Seattle Pacific University, the host school, will provide live video and Live Stats of the West Region championship game through its official Women's West Regional page.